Will the Lakers struggle with Denver?

[SBR Lou]

The only area I give the nod to Denver to- -

• better low-post presence

Homecourt for both teams is quite strong. Each team can score a ton, both are capable of locking down on defense. I do think Denver has the best scorer of either team in Carmelo Anthony. I say that because LA doesn't do as well when Kobe goes off for 40 and ignores his teammates, when Melo goes off it's because Chauncey is feeding him the rock when not scoring himself.

Assuming both teams play their absolute best, LA has the coaching advantage, homecourt advantage, they'll either win in 7 or steal one on the road if Bynum can play well down-low.

[SexyMit]

Yes I think they will. If they struggled against Houston then I think it will be tougher when they play Denver!

[pavyracer]

The real question is if Denver has any trouble sweeping the Lakers.

[SBR Lou]

The real question is if Denver has any trouble sweeping the Lakers.

If you like the chances of that outcome, Pinnacle is offering over 25-1.

[sweetjones55]

I like Nuggets in 6 and Cavs in 5. Cavs steal game 4 in Orlando and Nuggets steal game 1.

[daggerkobe]

Lakers win game 1. Nugs win game 2 & 3. Lakers win 4 & 5. Nugs win game 6. Lakers advance to Finals with convincing win in game 7.

(Tacomax/Ganch can bump this after Lakers win)

[paco]

denver ML game 1

[The General]

The logic seems to be that Denver will really take it to LA, but in the NBA so many un-logical things happen.

[Richkas]

Denver wins the series

[chris440]

I dont think so because Lakers usually kill Denver, It would be a good time for Denver to prove that they can beat them.

[Tsoprano]

Yes, they struggled with Houston. Denver will put up a good fight, would not be surprised to see them win the series.

[CaneDawg]

lakers advance in 7

[frostno98]

Denver in 6, and yeah the Lakers will struggle against Denver.

[isiah121]

Who ever is betting this round against the Lakers must be really really stupid and out of their mind. And do not wine later that you were not being warned.

[kevindakota00]

denver wins in 3

[kevindakota00]

lakers fo not show up in 4th lol

[j0hnnyv]

denver in 6

[james4512]

Lakers win game 1. Nugs win game 2 & 3. Lakers win 4 & 5. Nugs win game 6. Lakers advance to Finals with convincing win in game 7.

(Tacomax/Ganch can bump this after Lakers win)

lakers lose game 1. Denver will be rested, and the lakers wont be ready for the toughness denver brings. I would expect denver to come out sharp to begin the game and never look back

[paco]

Jr smith will xplode coming off the bench. Its gonna be raining 3's. I can see jr hitting from 30-35 feet out

[csimmalavong]

lakers will win this series, hard or not

[BobHarvey]

The only area I give the nod to Denver to- -

• better low-post presence

Homecourt for both teams is quite strong. Each team can score a ton, both are capable of locking down on defense. I do think Denver has the best scorer of either team in Carmelo Anthony. I say that because LA doesn't do as well when Kobe goes off for 40 and ignores his teammates, when Melo goes off it's because Chauncey is feeding him the rock when not scoring himself.

Assuming both teams play their absolute best, LA has the coaching advantage, homecourt advantage, they'll either win in 7 or steal one on the road if Bynum can play well down-low.

Good preview.

[BobHarvey]

lakers lose game 1. Denver will be rested, and the lakers wont be ready for the toughness denver brings. I would expect denver to come out sharp to begin the game and never look back

I hope your wrong. I'm taking advantage of a rare low point spread and piling on the Lakers. I've got to believe the Lakers learned from the Houston series that you better bring it and bring it hard from the opening tip.

[pavyracer]

Here is why Denver will destroy Lakers:

- Nene/Martin will neutralize Bynum/Gasol with aggressive offensive rebounding advantage. Gasol/Bynum couldn't rebound against Hayes/Battier who were 6-8 inches shorter.
- Billups is a beast and Fisher/Farmar combo may be the weakest PG/backup combo of all 16 playoff teams. Can't think of a worse duo.
- Carmelo is not even in the same league with Ariza. Huge advantage here for Nuggets.
- The only advantage Lakers have is Kobe who as we saw in the Rockets series when the other Lakers are neutralized he vanishes in thin air.

[blackbart]

den got their attention, focused lakers cruise

[bobbyfk]

they might..they struggled with Houston

[frostno98]

den got their attention, focused lakers cruise

Um this sound familiar. Yao goes down in game 3 Lakers response with a 87-99 lost. Lakers win by 40 points in game 5 only to respond back with 80-95 lost to Houston in game 6. Lakers win game 7 89-70 only to respond back with 105-110 lost to the Nuggets in game 1 Western Conference Finals.

I think the lakers Jekyl and hyde behavior continues, this time it will be too late by game 6.

[2daBank]

lakers lose game 1. Denver will be rested, and the lakers wont be ready for the toughness denver brings. I would expect denver to come out sharp to begin the game and never look back

den rusty la pretty rested they only played hard a few gms of the hou series. dont let the 7 gms fool you they only gave there all in a couple of them

[BrandonLaz]

Here is why Denver will destroy Lakers:

- Nene/Martin will neutralize Bynum/Gasol with aggressive offensive rebounding advantage. Gasol/Bynum couldn't rebound against Hayes/Battier who were 6-8 inches shorter.
- Billups is a beast and Fisher/Farmar combo may be the weakest PG/backup combo of all 16 playoff teams. Can't think of a worse duo.
- Carmelo is not even in the same league with Ariza. Huge advantage here for Nuggets.
- The only advantage Lakers have is Kobe who as we saw in the Rockets series when the other Lakers are neutralized he vanishes in thin air.

Nene and Martin are much more aggresive players who go after loose balls. Bynum and Gasol still have plenty of heighth and it really depends on which one shows up. If Gasol plays aggresive like he did in Game 5 or if Bynum plays tough then that is a huge advantage for the Lakers. It really depends on which version of the players you see. Don't forget Odom off the bench though that guy is lengthy and he does a ton of dirty work that goes un-noticed.
Billups is a beast on the outside, but he doesn't have the speed of Brooks to destroy Fisher. These two have played each other tough many times in the past and I expect a tough battle at the PG spot. Billups does hold the edge, but not near as big of an edge as you believe.
Melo is way better than Ariza, but again the Odom factor as they will bring in Odom off the bench if Melo is just destroying Ariza. While Melo is still better than Odom he has the length to frustrate Anthony and Anthony plays HORRIBLE when he gets frustrated.
The only advantage Lakers have is Kobe who as we saw in the Rockets series when the other Lakers are neutralized he vanishes in thin air is just an insane statement. Kobe never actually vanished as he averaged 27.4 PPG on .453 shooting. He only gave up 1.57 TO against two of the BEST defenders in the NBA. He scored 27.4 PPG in Round One I guess he just vanished there as well. I wish I could be shut down and still be in the top 5 in the NBA for scoring during the postseason. The Nuggets have nobody that can slow him down and play tough enough defense on him to stop him from getting 30 a game. Nothing has ever made me laugh harder than the statement you made here.

So in the end it sounds to me like you are trying to justify very illogicaly how the Nuggets are the better team. The Nuggets are not the better team they might play harder than the Lakers, but the Lakers have the far superior players. I think Denver could give the Lakers a run for their money, because the Lakers play soft and unagresive a lot. The Lakers are the much better team though and this series should be over in 5 or 6 games with the Lakers playing their hardest. The only way this game goes in the way of Denver is if the Lakers roll over and give it to them.

[BobHarvey]

Brandon,

Well said. In addition to not being as good as the Lakers, it was Denver's misfortune to catch the Lakers coming off the Houston series. Many lessons were learned by the Lakers. They won't be quite as arrogant against the Nuggets.

[rjt721]

The only area I give the nod to Denver to- -

• better low-post presence

Um, what about at PG?

[The HOFF]

Denver +220 for the series.

[andywend]

What concerns me the most is Billups defense as his age is catching up with him. He can still shoot the ball with great accuracy but his quickness is gone.

The Lakers GREATEST WEAKNESS is Derek Fisher and he should be able to run wild with Billups defending him.

Fisher is going to get many open looks and the Nuggets will be forced to pay more attention to him thus giving the Lakers many more options than they had against in Houston.

With all that being said, I love the Nuggets in this series and think they will win the series in 5 GAMES (taking the series on LA's home court).

Nuggets in 5 (+2250 at Bookmaker), very enticing with Fisher having a much better series than expected.

[redbull]

Here is why Denver will destroy Lakers:

- Nene/Martin will neutralize Bynum/Gasol with aggressive offensive rebounding advantage. Gasol/Bynum couldn't rebound against Hayes/Battier who were 6-8 inches shorter.
- Billups is a beast and Fisher/Farmar combo may be the weakest PG/backup combo of all 16 playoff teams. Can't think of a worse duo.
- Carmelo is not even in the same league with Ariza. Huge advantage here for Nuggets.
- The only advantage Lakers have is Kobe who as we saw in the Rockets series when the other Lakers are neutralized he vanishes in thin air.

and kobe cant win anything without SHAQ

[smitch124]

the 1st 6 games go to the home teams, game 7 is a barn burner...

[darrell74]

Nuggs are rested

Lake show went 7 against a 6'6" center in final 3 games

Lake show will work hard

Mr. Big shot (Chauncey Billups) is living every little kid's fantasy: chance to win big in the city you're born and raised in
Denver will be inspired
In fact, theyve been playing inspired
Chauncey is that good of a locker room presence